The Air Force recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $67.8 million to complete a year’s worth of F-22 programed depot maintenance, according to a release. The company will carry out this work at its site in Palmdale, Calif., and at the Ogden Air Logistics Complex on Hill AFB, Utah. F-22 depot maintenance is consolidating at Hill over the next year and a half as a cost-saving measure. Ogden has typically provided depot maintenance on some 12 F-22s each year, but that number will grow to about 24 this year as part of the changes, states the Jan. 9 release. In a separate move, the Air Force let a $67.7 million contract to Peerless Technologies of Fairborn, Ohio, for F-22 research, development, and sustainment advice and services until January 2020, announced the Pentagon on Jan. 9.
Pakistan's kill chain of Chinese-origin weapons was likely a bigger factor in shooting down an Indian fighter than the jets' relative strengths, an expert said.